Facade of the Museu Diocesà/Gaudí Exhibition Center

©Esme Fox/Lonely Planet

Gaudí Exhibition Center/Museu Diocesà

La Rambla & Barri Gòtic


Next to La Catedral, the Diocesan Museum hosts insightful exhibits on Gaudí including fascinating documentaries on his life and philosophy and the inspiration behind his whimsical creations. The building itself contains fragments of Barcelona's Roman wall, as well as elements from its days as an 11th-century almshouse and its later use as an ecclesiastical residence in the 15th century. Upstairs is a 1:25 model of what the completed Colònia Güell church would have looked like.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby La Rambla & Barri Gòtic attractions

1. La Catedral

0.02 MILES

Barcelona’s central place of worship presents a magnificent image. The richly decorated main facade, dotted with gargoyles and the kinds of stone…

2. Museu Frederic Marès

0.02 MILES

The wealthy Catalan sculptor, traveller and obsessive collector Frederic Marès i Deulovol (1893–1991) amassed one of the wildest collections of historical…

3. Casa de l’Ardiaca

0.04 MILES

The 16th-century Casa de l’Ardiaca has housed the city’s archives since the 1920s. Stroll around the supremely serene courtyard, cooled by a fountain and…

4. Palau Episcopal

0.06 MILES

Across Carrer del Bisbe from La Catedral is the 17th-century Bishop's Palace. Virtually nothing remains of the original 13th-century structure. The Roman…

5. Palau del Lloctinent

0.06 MILES

Flanking the Plaça del Rei, this 1550s palace was built as the residence of the Spanish lloctinent (viceroy) of Catalonia and later converted into a…

6. Col·legi d'Arquitectes

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Across from La Catedral your eye may be caught by what appear to be childlike scribblings on the facade of the 1931 Col·legi de Arquitectes. It is, in…

7. Capella Reial de Santa Àgata

0.07 MILES

Accessed within the Museu d'Història de Barcelona, this is the chapel of the old Gothic Palau Reial Major (Grand Royal Palace). Outside, a spindly bell…

8. Plaça del Rei

0.07 MILES

The courtyard of the Gothic former Palau Reial Major, this picturesque, almost entirely walled-in square is where the Reyes Católicos (Catholic Monarchs)…